A CX Guide for Financial Services

Top 10 Questions to Ask Right Now About Your Customer Experience

In the financial services industry, change is the one constant, requiring Financial Service Providers to not only juggle new regulatory requirements and increased risk, but also adapt to the changes that digital disruption brings by way of new technology and increasingly demanding customers. In addition, the speed of technological change has 68% of Banking CEOs concerned about its threat to growth1, with digital transformations for an enhanced customer experience (CX) becoming a major priority in the financial sector.

However, only 10% of retail services providers in the financial sphere considered themselves innovation leaders in 2015, leaving the banking industry at a disadvantage against agile technology firms capturing segments of a fragmented market. As a result, financial institutions are relying on Voice of Customer (VoC) technology and insights to compete in the Age of the Consumer. And by

developing holistic digital architectures that include opt-in omnichannel experiences, financial services providers can harness the actionable insights and in-depth analytics necessary to safeguard customer loyalty through high-quality CX.

Here are 10 CX Considerations that can help turn digital disruption into your competitive advantage.

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1. Snowden, S., & Cheah, P. (2015). 18th Annual Global CEO Survey. http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/ceo-agenda/ceo-survey/industry/banking-and-capital-markets.html 2. Marous, J. (2015, September 15). Banking Must Respond to Competitive & Regulatory Threats. http://thefinancialbrand.com/54090/technology-competition-disruption-banking-study/

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A recent Temenos study discovered that the two largest investment priorities of the financial services industry are product innovation and digital channels, both of which enable service providers to meet increasingly high customer expectations. Modern consumers opt for personalized digital experiences that respond in real-time with absolute simplicity. This customer expectation makes it

When investing in customer engagement platforms, Financial Services Providers should focus on building a relationship with their customers, allowing them to raise their hand and offer insights throughout their cross-channel journey; when and where they choose. While this approach differs from the more traditional customer

Are you truly connected with your customers?

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Engagement must be done without relying on intrusive methods, such as pop-up website surveys and aggressive in-branch surveys.

essential for providers to invest in digital engagement platforms capable of seamlessly integrating with the in-branch experience. Adding to the challenge, this engagement must be done without relying on intrusive methods, such as pop-up website surveys and aggressive in-branch survey tactics, which may cause more harm than good to a consistent and enjoyable CX.

engagement strategy of simply surveying random customer samples, a truly customer-centric approach allows Financial Services Providers to gain invaluable knowledge that can be applied towards creating deeper customer relationships and differentiating in a hyper- competitive market.

3. Robinson, B. (2014, September 17). Temenos’ 7th Annual Survey Of The Financial Services Sector. https://www.temenos.com/en-us/market-insight/universal-insight/temenos-7th-annual-survey-of-the-financial-services-sector/#

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While 37% of Banking CEOs consider a collaboration with their customers critical for optimal success when launching new products and services, the majority of financial services providers lack the contextual insights necessary to truly collaborate.

Is your customer feedback secure

and surrounded with actionable context?

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37% of Banking CEOs consider a collaboration with their customers critical for optimal success when launching new products and services.

By capturing Voice of Customer (VoC) feedback, coupled with rich data outlining the context in which it was given, financial institutions can make more informed decisions about their CX in partnership with their customers.

For instance, it is essential for financial services providers to understand how customers access their online services, whether via mobile device, workstation or tablet. In addition, browser type, search keywords, brand location and the amount of time a customer spends using specific services are all

critical to understanding a customer’s journey. And, it’s important to ensure that the collection of any customer feedback and associated context meet the stringent security and data protection protocols required in a financial services interaction.

37%

4. Snowden, S., & Cheah, P. (2015). 18th Annual Global CEO Survey. http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/ceo-agenda/ceo-survey/industry/banking-and-capital-markets.html

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In a 2015 study by the FDIC, it was discovered that, while the U.S. population grew by over 50% between 1970 and 2014, the number of financial service offices more than doubled. In fact, “the total number of offices increased by 244% between 1935 and 2014”5, indicating that Financial Services Providers continue to invest in

Are you gathering location-specific

insights?

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Financial Services Providers continue to invest in physical branches, despite the advantages of the digital age. Financial Services Providers must identify the location of customer interactions in real time to better manage online, self-serve, and in-branch CX.

Location insights allow for cross- channel analysis of customer engagement based on specific locations, enabling Financial Services Providers to capture specific insights from their customers at a micro level and recommend services targeting location-specific preferences. Location analytics can also provide contextual insights across geographies, allowing

physical branches despite the advances of the digital age. To effectively engage customers throughout both physical and digital channels, Financial Services Providers must identify the location of customer interactions in real time to better manage both online, self-serve and in-branch CX.

Financial Services Providers to determine which branches or regions are outperforming others and why. And by leveraging these analytics to understand customer nuances by location or geography, providers can quickly develop targeted products & services to stand out in a crowded competitive landscape.

5. Brick-and-Mortar Banking Remains Prevalent in an Increasingly Virtual World. (2015). FDIC Quarterly, 9(1). https://www.fdic.gov/bank/analytical/quarterly/2015_vol9_1/FDIC_4Q2014_v9n1_BrickAndMortar.pdf

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According to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ recent CEO Survey, 89% of CEOs believe data mining and advanced analytics are a strategic imperative, and that in-depth insights can increase their organization’s effectiveness through an improved understanding of consumer behavior. And while three-fourths of the CEOs surveyed stated that their organizations have invested in advanced analytics capabilities, only 17% believed that they were ready to act on the opportunities offered by those insights6.

Can you act quickly enough on what your customers tell you?

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89% of CEOs believe data mining and advanced analytics are a strategic imperative, and that in-depth insights can increase their organization’s effectiveness.

To take full advantage of the benefits offered by customer engagement, financial services providers must act on these customer insights and “close the loop” in a timely manner. By establishing an early warning system for CX abnormalities and providing broad, real-time access to CX analytics, financial institutions can take the appropriate and efficient action needed to build lasting relationships and create lifetime advocates.

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From a CX perspective, ease and effectiveness are necessary for winning and retaining customers, but an emotionally appealing customer experience can result in increased overall loyalty. Forrester Research shows that, when customers do feel valued by a brand, they give much higher scores in regards to customer advocacy, something that has been lacking in the financial services industry since the financial crisis of 20087.

Are your customers feeling the love?

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When customers do feel valued by a brand, they give much higher scores in regards to customer advocacy — a rare win in the wake of the 2008 financial services crisis.

However, intrusive methods and traditional surveys may have the opposite effect, and miss an opportunity to tap into the underlying motivations behind customer behavior in real time. Traditional surveys typically fail to provide the necessary context needed to identify issues that directly impact an individual customer. As a result, Financial Services Providers who choose an opt-in customer engagement solution to help manage their CX have the ability to act on deeper insights more precisely and make their customers feel truly valued.

7. Burns, M. (2015, April 20). The US Customer Experience Index, Q1 2015. https://www.forrester.com/TheUSCustomerExperienceIndexQ12015/fulltext/-/E-RES117482

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Comparative customer experience metrics are becoming increasingly important as non-traditional market entrants develop innovative methods for serving customers with less friction and improved CX. In order for financial institutions to stay competitive, benchmarking has become a proven method to motivate employees and understand how an organization measures up to the competition. However, broad benchmarks can mask not just functional deficiencies, but areas of exceptional performance as well.

Is the competition leaving you behind?

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Deeper CX benchmarks from cross-industry CX leaders allow Financial Services Providers to attain deeper knowledge of their own business — and a better understanding of how to prioritize resources and investments.

Financial Services Providers should seek out deeper CX benchmarks from both cross-industry CX leaders and financial services peers to better understand their own CX performance. More focused benchmarks that provide insight into the CX performance of specific business functions or touchpoints are ideal. These measures of true CX allow services providers to gauge where their customer experience ranks, down to the most seemingly minute detail. By blending qualitative and quantitative data together, financial institutions can attain a deeper understanding of their own business and better understand how to prioritize resources and investments.

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The evolving requirements of a mobile, multi-screen digital customer are creating seismic change in the financial services industry. While a digital transformation may seem daunting, financial institutions cannot afford to risk alienating their most profitable and influential digital customers. A digital change can successfully occur in small increments over time, and it should be embraced as competitive table stakes.

Are you meeting the needs of your digital customer?

7 By acquiring such detailed customer feedback and utilizing advanced analytics, Financial Services Providers can generate dynamic experiences specific to their customer’s individualized interests, allowing for personalized messaging, product recommendations and relevant calls-

to-action across multiple channels. And when used in conjunction with insights concerning post-purchase satisfaction, functionality of mobile banking and overall CX, business operations can become more flexible and better streamlined for their target audience.

A good understanding of digital customer behavior is achieved by capturing explicit customer feedback and combining it with implicit data gleaned from accompanying digital context, session replay and behavioural analytics; ideally, in an integrated view. For example, combining unstructured customer feedback on a web page with a specific associated session replay will pay rich dividends.

By aquiring detailed feedback and utilizing advanced analytics, Financial Services Providers can generate dynamic experiences specific to their customer’s individualized interests.

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For a healthy business in the Age of the Consumer, it is essential for financial institutions to share CX insights across their organization. From C-Suite executives to inbound sales representatives, every key stakeholder should be able to draw from the powerful insights derived from customer feedback — both positive and negative.

Customer-centric Financial Services Providers can get the most out of their business intelligence and raise comprehensive awareness across

Are customer insights shared throughout your organization?

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their organization by leveraging the knowledge gained through a combination of qualitative and quantitative customer feedback data. Best practice includes integration into other customer relationship management (CRM) systems to provide a comprehensive customer view. Financial organizations with an acute desire to listen to their customers, and then analyze and share their findings internally are better positioned to build customer-centered cultures that pay rich business dividends.

When key stakeholders can draw from powerful customer feedback insights, organizations can build customer-centered cultures that pay rich business dividends.

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Forrester Research suggests that while regulatory requirements are still a major concern for financial institu-tions, customer-oriented initiatives are quickly becoming the most important driver for transformation, encompass-ing customer service, omnichannel experiences and the innovation of new

Are you aware of shifts in

customer behavior?

9It’s essential that you have the ability and flexibility to create engagement posts throughout the customer journey.

products and services8. And while 63% of CEOs in 2015 believed that a shift in consumer spending and behavior would threaten future growth9, that is only true if financial organizations fail to cultivate a holistic and effective CX ecosystem from the ground up.

To stay on top of the latest consumer behavior, Financial Services Providers are creating engagement posts, or touch points, throughout the customer journey to not only maintain the highest standards of customer service, but also

stay ahead of constantly evolving CX trends. By continuously interacting with customers throughout the customer journey, Financial Services Providers can readily adapt to meet evolving CX demands.

8. Hoppermann, J. (2014, December 9). Architecting Banking Systems Of Engagement. https://www.forrester.com/ArchitectingBankingSystemsOfEngagement/fulltext/-/E-res115652?al=0

9. Snowden, S., & Cheah, P. (2015). 18th Annual Global CEO Survey. http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/ceo-agenda/ceo-survey/industry/banking-and-capital-markets.html

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Satisfying the demands of empowered and informed customers is the most significant obstacle the financial industry currently faces, with 34% of CEOs citing waning customer loyalty as their biggest challenge10. To solve this issue, Financial Services Providers must choose to “play a larger role in

Do your customers believe you’re

committed to improving their experience?

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Providing a consistent and high quality CX continues to be of critical strategic importance to financial services providers. Serving many of the world’s leading financial institutions, OpinionLab delivers advanced, secure and flexible VoC solutions to revolutionize your Customer Experience strategy.

Visit opinionlab.com to learn more.Copyright© 2015 OpinionLab Inc. All rights reserved

the lives of their customers, not just at the moment of transactions, but before and after as well,” according to Jim Marous of The Financial Brand11. This holistic approach requires updated engagement strategies that cater to the needs of modern customer-oriented banking.

Providing customers a real-time path to offer feedback “in the moment” of their experience is another high visibility strategy to build consumer trust. Today’s financial institutions should close the loop with their customers, consistently proving that

their feedback has been truly listened to and acted upon. And by providing a tailored and seamless experience across all channels and touchpoints, Financial Services Providers will forge lasting, loyal relationships with their customers.

10. Marous, J. (2014, September 29). Bigger Challenges & New Priorities Face Banking Industry. http://thefinancialbrand.com/42559/challenges-priorities-banking-industry-study/

11. Marous, J. (2014, September 29). Bigger Challenges & New Priorities Face Banking Industry. http://thefinancialbrand.com/42559/challenges-priorities-banking-industry-study/